By Ian Gordon, PA Sport, Munich

Colin Jackson has ruled out any chance of changing his mind about quitting the sport next March despite claiming a fourth European Championships title in Munich.

The 35-year-old Welshman insists he will retire after the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

"It is the right time to go," said Jackson, who joined javelin thrower Steve Backley as the only Brit to win four titles in succession with his victory in the 110metres hurdles in Munich's Olympic Stadium.

"It's a home event, I will be just past my 36th birthday and the good thing about the 60mhurdles is it's short. If I can win it that would be great, but I won't carry on if I don't.

"My training will be geared towards the World Indoors. I won't be preparing specifically for the outdoor season.

"I am not the sort of athlete who will go to a major championships if he is not properly prepared which is why I will not go to the world outdoors in Paris."

Jackson, the most bemedalled British athlete in history and arguably the greatest high hurdler of all-time, will attempt to end his 18-year international career by winning his 26th major medal in Birmingham.

It is an extraordinary record although after picking up medal number 25 yesterday Jackson paid tribute to his career-long coach Malcolm Arnold who will hang-up his stop-watch when his athlete puts away his spikes.

"When I finish, it will also be Malcolm's last major championships," said Jackson, who is writing a book and putting out an interactive cd-rom on fitness and training with Arnold, who also coached Uganda's John Akii-Bua to the Olympic 400m hurdles title in 1972.

"Given the number of major championships medals he has won, not just my 25 but all the other golds and world records with other athletes, then he should be a multi-millionaire.

"A huge store of knowledge will disappear with him when he retires and it will be a sad day for the sport.

"Malcolm must be the most successful British coach there has ever been. I don't know why he hasn't had an MBE by now."

Jackson, who clocked a season's best 13.11secs to beat Latvia's Stanislavs Olijars, admits he will leave a void in the high hurdles when he quits.

But he hopes that the 'Linford Christie' affect may be felt and a new generation of hurdlers come through as we now have an era of top-class sprinters with the likes of Dwain Chambers, Mark Lewis-Francis and Darren Campbell.

"When Linford retired he left a huge gap," added Jackson, who won his first European title in Split in 1990. "He had been number one for so long. But eventually a new group of sprinters came along to fight to be number one.

"Maybe I have had that kind of effect on the sprint hurdles. Once I go it might open the floodgates for the rest of the guys.

"But what we need to do is make the event more attractive in Britain. When I started there was lots of high-quality competitions but we don't see that high level now."

Europe's best will also be glad to see the back of Jackson, though Olijars paid his rival the ultimate tribute when he said: "I think Colin is the greatest hurdler there has ever been in the world."

COLIN JACKSON'S MAJOR MEDAL RECORD:

1985: Silver, European Junior 110mhurdles

1986: Gold, 110mh World Juniors; Silver, 110mh Commonwealth Games

1987: Silver, 60mh European Indoors; Bronze, 110mh World Championships

1988: Silver, 110mh Olympic Games

1989: Gold, 60mh European Indoors; Silver, 60mh World Indoors.

1990: Gold, 110mh European Championships; Gold, 110mh Commonwealth Games

1993: Gold, 110mh World Championships (world record time); Silver, 4x100mR World Championships; Silver, 60mh World Indoors.

1994: Gold, 60mh & 60m European Indoors; Gold, 110mh European Championships; Gold, 110mh Commonwealth Games.

1997: Silver, 60mh World Indoors; Silver, 110mh World Championships.

1998: Gold, 110mh European Championships.

1999: Gold, 60mh World Indoors; Gold, 110mh World Championships.

2002: Gold, 60mh European Indoors; Gold, 110mh European Championships; Silver, 110mh Commonwealth Games.